Judge orders Ivanka Trump to testify in shoe dispute

Warren Dawson | June 26, 2017, 0:43

Judge orders Ivanka Trump to testify in shoe dispute

President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka must give testimony later this year in a lawsuit against her apparel company, which is accused of lifting designs from a celebrated Italian shoemaker, a USA judge ruled.

Aquazzura Italia SRL filed the suit last June against Trump's company IT Collection LLC. It claims the brand has produced cheaper knockoffs of Aquazurra's "coveted" and highly publicized shoe designs.

Ms Trump's fashion company has also recently filed several trademark applications in China, adding fuel to the fire that is the debate over the Trump family possibly using their political position for business gain. Lawyers Ivanka trump suggested that President IT Collection Abigail Terminals answered the questions.

They said the Aquazurra design lacks the "distinctiveness" it would need to be protected by intellectual property laws.

District Judge Katherine Forrest says the businesswoman and presidential adviser must give evidence in the case, dismissing pleas for an exemptiont due to due to her "exceptional circumstances" as a "high-ranking government official".

She now serves in an unpaid White House role as an adviser to President Trump.

"I had no involvement in the conception, design, production or sale of the Hettie Shoe", she said.

Trump must testify in Washington D.C., where she now resides, and her deposition must be submitted by October, wrote Forrest.

"The goal of the deposition is not for harassment, but because Ms. Trump possesses individual knowledge not only of what did or did not occur with regard to the shoes at issue, but of how she handles the supervision of her licensees generally, and what steps she takes to avoid licensees' intentional copying", Aquazzura's lawyers said.